Jeb Bush not ruling out 2016 presidential bid

Former Florida governor refuses to rule out White House run during television interview.

Jeremy Wallace

Nothing like a burst of publicity to get the ol' rumor mill fired up for 2016.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush proved that with the upcoming release of his new book on immigration, his accepting the featured speaker role at the annual CPAC dinner next week, and his run of television talk show appearances starting this morning with TODAY on NBC.

The Republican told TODAY host Matt Lauer that he would not rule out a bid in 2016, but quickly added that “I'm not going to declare today either Matt.”

In the interview, Jeb Bush offers a critique of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to explain why he might not have been invited to speak at the CPAC event - an annual gathering of conservative thinkers and a launching pad for potential GOP presidential candidates. Bush cited Christie's criticism of House Republicans for not passing Sandy relief legislation, which Bush said contained a lot of spending that had nothing to do with helping the northeast recover from super storm Sandy.

Christie, with some of the best approval ratings of any Republican governor in the nation, is another potential GOP candidate for 2016.

Jeb Bush, the brother of former President George W. Bush and son of President George H.W. Bush, is promoting his new book, Immigration Wars, which will be on sale tomorrow.

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